


Flickering of the Flame

by Gagnrad



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, F/F, all of RWBYQRONMJ is present though, and back into the past i mean but, though it is extrapolating into v7, v1-6 compliant, what else are ya gonna do with canon compliant rosebird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 02:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17889656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gagnrad/pseuds/Gagnrad
Summary: We know how the story ends.It's not with gleeful looks and held hands. It's not with burying your face into your lovers' neck at the end of a long day, it's not calm sunsets and irresponsible meals that feel all the more better together. It's with.... well........We know how the story ends......





	Flickering of the Flame

Summer was always happy. She was always happy for the people around her, even with the teasing pouts and nights where she thought too much, it always shone through. With Raven, though.... Summer felt happy for herself. That didn't happen often before, but with Raven it happened every day.

Gosh, the thought that this was the rest of her life filled her with bliss! Every day was wonderful! Every day was an adventure in finding out how Raven would make her smile, and how she'd be able to slip in through the cracks forming in Raven's hardened exterior.

But something had changed when Ozpin interfered. The world was a different place. Summer had been learning to master her silver eyes, and.... apparently it repelled Raven as much as it repelled the grimm. She was jumpy. She didn't smile, or laugh at Summer's jokes. The cracks in her mask that Summer had learned to gently slip between just made her despondent. Nothing was like it used to be.

It was past curfew, but only a little bit. The hall was empty except for the two of them. Raven had been walking back from.... Somewhere that Summer didn't know anymore, and now the two were facing eachother, bathed in the dusk's dim light.

"Raven, what am I to you?" Creased eyebrows and a worried expression painted her face, but Raven just looked neutral, slightly downwards, with a hint of annoyance.... was it that? She'd never find out. She could never have prepared. "I'm with Tai now." Four words. Walking past in a hurry. No eye contact. And Summer was left to figure it out on her own.

_Oh._ It bounced around her head. _Of course she wouldn't want me like that. If I had just waited I could have seen without tearing myself up like this._ She was still standing there, couldn't even hear the echo of footsteps anymore. _I was selfish for asking that. Imagine the strain she must have been under to have to deliver that news to me..._ Eyes can't widen and squeeze shut at the same time, but it felt like that's what was happening.

_I can't believe I put that on her. Everything I did was for me, and I might as well have thrown myself onto her for all the hurt I put her through..._ Eventually she made it back to the dorm room with her bandaged, broken resolve. It would flood out of her quietly in the night. A melody about shared desire and passion framed with tears. Raven's heard that birdsong in the night before; Summer was bad at telling when she was awake. And she'd just thrust a stake through both of their hearts.

 

*** ***

 

The sky above Mantle wasn't filled with stars, like you might expect. Light pollution from Atlas made sure of that, as if blocking out half the sky wasn't enough. The view was nothing like what they'd seen flying in. Well...... when most of them flew in....

You see, they'd been forced to land in Mantle in the morning. The Atlas military knew that Manta 5-1 had no business back home even with the total recall of all forces, and so the party - obviously not going to pass through any checks - opted to instead flee to the undercity, and try to ascend to the "City Proper" via the elevator connecting the two. _"More like Mantle 5-1, huh?"_ Weiss had joked, probably once again missing the time and place rule.

On landing, though, the bunch of them were scattered by pursuing Atlas personnel, obviously treating this as an invasion. It was only a matter of time before each of them got away, though. What really blindsided them was when later in the day, a familiar portal had opened right in front of Yang..... and out came her mother and her father.

But.... their intentions were far from hostile this time. Or rather, her intentions. And so she'd joined them for now, and she was there when the group reunited, gathered around a fire after sundown in a corner of the mining town where they probably wouldn't be disturbed. Small conversation started the night, as obviously there was some explaining to do. As time went on, though.....

"...Tai," She raised a hand to her face, closed off. the light from the flame danced over her attire, making it alive even when she was still. "You're a good person, but.... choosing you was a mistake." A different fire flared up. "I was a mistake then!? What, was Ruby too?" Red glared across at red. Yang's fists clenched. Was she prepared for the answer she expected?

Raven stood up. "Of course not! You will never be a mistake!" Her eyes lowered to the ground... "But I should have been there for Summer. And I threw her away. God, how could I? I don't even know what loyalty is if I threw her away..." Hands raised to an elbows, she sat back down.

"You needed her as much as she needed you, y'know." It was Taiyang's turn to speak up. "Everyone was hurt in this.... It's not on you." Blake and Yang shared a look. "And you're here now. That's what matters, isn't it? We can start again from here!" He'd even walked forward a bit, now standing next to the source of heat and light they were all huddled around, arms slightly outstretched.

Disbelief and disgust painted Raven's face."What? I'm not about to leap into your embrace like a giddy highschool girl, Tai," Blue eyes faltered. "No, no Raven I wasn't talking about th-"

"Then what do you think I was talking about!? I loved her, we both knew it, and I just let Salem drive a goddamn chasm between us! I should have been there! I could have stopped it! But I wasn't there. And Salem got her because she didn't have me...." Her breathing was heavy at this point. Everyone was quiet. And the fire burned on into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really write that regularly. Yesterday I got half a paragraph and an outline out for an entirely separate project after stewing on it for weeks, and then all this comes out on a day. I'm pretty proud of it though, so here it is.
> 
> Canon-compliant rosebird really is tragic the more you think about it though.... sdmfmsdmf and that's what i've been thinking about today. this is the result of a few hours of gushing at a friend while continually putting summer and raven's 2 and 2's together. they really would have been so sweet together..... ;-;


End file.
